Emmys 2023: “Succession” Leads the Pack With 27 Noms, With “The Last of Us” & “The White Lotus” Right Behind

HBO—or now, HBO/Max—had a banner day yesterday when the 2023 Emmy nominations were announced. Its three flagship series, the final, bruising season of Jesse Armstrong’s Succession, the stunning first season of Craig Mazin’s The Last Of Us, and the immensely satisfying second season of Mike White’s The White Lotus led the pack. Succession was the CEO of the bunch, earning a whopping 27 nominations, with The Last Of Us gobbling up 24 and The White Lotus swimming its way to 23.

HBO/Max dominated the supporting actor category—performers from Succession and The White Lotus took all eight slots, while it was a healthy six of eight for the supporting actress category. While there were surprises mixed into the nomination announcement, the crowning achievement of the final season of Succession was not one of them. From the moment creator Jesse Armstrong announced the fourth season would be the last, all eyes were on Succession. (In reality, all eyes were going to be on the series regardless as it’s been appointment TV since it aired.) It notched nominations for best drama, lead actress (Sarah Snook), and broke the record for most nominations in the lead actor category with three—Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, and Kieran Culkin. The supporting players were hardly any less successful at turning their Succession screen time into nominations; Nicholaus Braun, Matthew MacFayden, J. Smith-Cameron, Alan Ruck, and Alexander Skarsgård all got on the board.

Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann’s The Last Of Us became the first video game adaptation to achieve this kind of critical success. Its 24 nominations are leaps and bounds better than any previous adaptation of a game, with nominations for best drama, lead actor (Pedro Pascal), lead actress (Bella Ramsey), guest actor (Murray Bartlett, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Montreal Woodard, and Nick Offerman), guest actress (Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, and Anna Torv), and outstanding production design to name a few. Also noteworthy for the network is The White Lotus is now officially in the drama series category, a change from last year when it was considered a limited series. HBO/Max now has four of the eight best drama nominees. The White Lotus dominated the supporting actress in a drama series category, nabbing five of the eight slots—Jennifer Coolidge, Meghann Fahy, Sabrina Impacciatore, Aubrey Plaza, and Simona Tabasco.

Apple TV’s Ted Lasso scored big, earning 21 nominations, the most for any comedy. This was a tick more than Lasso‘s 20 Emmy haul last year and a tick less than the all-time biggest haul for a comedy, the 22 earned by 30 Rock in 2009. Netflix’s Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story grabbed up 13 nominations. The top unscripted series was RuPaul’s Drag Race, which garnered seven nominations.

The other best drama series nominees, alongside Succession, The Last Of Us, and The White Lotus, are HBO/Max’s House of the Dragon, Disney+’s Andor, Netflix’s The Crown, AMC’s Better Call Saul, and Showtime’s Yellowjackets. 

The best comedy series nominees alongside Ted Lasso are ABC’s Abbott Elementary, HBO/Max’s Barry, FX’s The Bear, Amazon’s Jury Duty and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Hulu+’s Only Murders in the Building, and Netflix’s Wednesday. 

The limited series nominees are Netflix’s Beef and Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Amazon’s Daisy Jones & the Six, Hulu’s Fleishman is in Trouble, and Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. 

Your acting nominees are listed below, while the full list of nominees can be found here.

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jeff Bridges (“The Old Man”) 

Brian Cox (“Succession”)  

Kieran Culkin (“Succession”)

Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”) 

Pedro Pascal (“The Last of Us”)

Jeremy Strong (“Succession”)

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Sharon Horgan (“Bad Sisters”) 

Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”) 

Elisabeth Moss (“The Handmaid’s Tale”)

Bella Ramsey (“The Last of Us”)

Keri Russell (“The Diplomat”) 

Sarah Snook (“Succession”) 

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Bill Hader (“Barry”) 

Jason Segel (“Shrinking”)

Martin Short (Only Murders in the Building”) 

Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso”) 

Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”) 

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate (“Dead to Me”) 

Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) 

Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”)

Natasha Lyonne (“Poker Face”)

Jenna Ortega (“Wednesday”) 

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Taron Egerton (“Black Bird”) 

Kumail Nanjiani (“Welcome to Chippendales”) 

Evan Peters (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”) 

Daniel Radcliffe (“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”) 

Michael Shannon (“George & Tammy”)

Steven Yeun (“Beef”) 

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Lizzy Caplan (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”)

Jessica Chastain (“George & Tammy”)

Dominique Fishback (“Swarm”) 

Kathryn Hahn (“Tiny Beautiful Things”)

Riley Keough (“Daisy Jones & the Six”)

Ali Wong (“Beef”) 

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Carrigan (“Barry”)

Phil Dunster (“Ted Lasso”)

Brett Goldstein (“Ted Lasso”)

James Marsden (“Jury Duty”)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach (“The Bear”)

Tyler James Williams (“Abbott Elementary”)

Henry Winkler (“Barry”)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)

Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”)

Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”)

Sheryl Lee Ralph (“Abbott Elementary”)

Juno Temple (“Ted Lasso”)

Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”)

Jessica Williams (“Shrinking”)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

F. Murray Abraham (“The White Lotus”)

Nicholas Braun (“Succession”)

Michael Imperioli (“The White Lotus”)

Theo James (“The White Lotus”)

Matthew Macfadyen (“Succession”)

Alan Ruck (“Succession”)

Will Sharpe (“The White Lotus”)

Alexander Skarsgård (“Succession”)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Coolidge (“The White Lotus”)

Elizabeth Debicki (“The Crown”)

Meghann Fahy (“The White Lotus”)

Sabrina Impacciatore (“The White Lotus”)

Aubrey Plaza (“The White Lotus”)

Rhea Seehorn (“Better Call Saul”)

J. Smith-Cameron (“Succession”)

Simona Tabasco (“The White Lotus”)

Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Murray Bartlett (“Welcome to Chippendales”)

Paul Walter Hauser (“Black Bird”)

Richard Jenkins (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”)

Joseph Lee (“Beef”)

Ray Liotta (“Black Bird”)

Young Mazino (“Beef”)

Jesse Plemons (Love & Death”)

Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Annaleigh Ashford (“Welcome to Chippendales”)

Maria Bello (“Beef”)

Claire Danes (“Fleishman Is in Trouble”)

Juliette Lewis (“Welcome to Chippendales”)

Camila Morrone (“Daisy Jones & The Six”)

Niecy Nash-Betts (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”)

Merritt Wever “(“Tiny Beautiful Things”)

Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

Jon Bernthal (“The Bear”)

Luke Kirby (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)

Nathan Lane (“Only Murders In The Building”)

Pedro Pascal (“Saturday Night Live”)

Oliver Platt (“The Bear”)

Sam Richardson (“Ted Lasso”)

Guest Actress in a Comedy Series

Becky Ann Baker (“Ted Lasso”)

Quinta Brunson (“Saturday Night Live”)

Taraji P. Henson (“Abbott Elementary”)

Judith Light “Poker Face”)

Sarah Niles (“Ted Lasso”)

Harriet Walter (“Ted Lasso”)

Guest Actor in a Drama Series

Murray Bartlett (“The Last of Us”)

James Cromwell (“Succession”)

Lamar Johnson (“The Last of Us”)

Arian Moayed (“Succession”)

Nick Offerman (“The Last of Us”)

Keivonn Montreal Woodard (“The Last of Us”)

Guest Actress in a Drama Series

Hiam Abbass (“Succession”)

Cherry Jones (“Succession”)

Melanie Lynskey (“The Last of Us”)

Storm Reid (“The Last of Us”)

Anna Torv (“The Last of Us”)

Harriet Walter (“Succession”)

Featured image: Justine Lupe, Alan Ruck, Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook. Photograph by Macall Polay/HBO